A speech interactive apparatus is an apparatus that receives speech input and accordingly operates devices. Then, depending on the prompt from the apparatus, the user understands the contents which need to be input the next time. Upon receiving an input of a speech input start instruction from the user via, for example, a button; the speech interactive apparatus performs speech recognition of the speech that has been input by the user and outputs the next prompt according to the speech recognition result.
While the speech interactive apparatus is outputting a prompt, if a speech input start instruction is received from the user; then, generally, the speech interactive apparatus stops outputting the prompt being output and gets ready to receive the response from the user. In Japanese Patent No. 3788793, a method is disclosed in which a speech prompt is re-output if the stopping of that speech prompt has not followed by any input from the user, that is, if the stopping of that speech response has followed by a silent state.
However, the situation of receiving a speech input start instruction from the user while the speech interactive apparatus is outputting a prompt may occur when the output of an earlier prompt had been mistakenly terminated. In such a case, for example, even if the prompt is re-output as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3788793; unless and until the prompt is re-output, the user is not able to understand what response should be performed next. That represents a case of a lack of user-friendliness.